African Union forces overrun al-Shabaab base in Somalia

Al-Shabaab fighters have again suffered a major setback after Amisom forces raided their base and inflicted heavy losses to the al -Qaeda linked group. The spokesperson of the Uganda contingent, Maj. Henry Obbo, said the offensive happened some 120km North West of Mogadishu in the thickets of the general areas of Balidoogle.

In an email to this newspaper Maj. Obbo said the Ugandan contingent forces have been following up on the group that had on Sunday staged a road ambush between Balidoogle and Leego.

He said they captured four sub-machine guns and 13 loaded magazines containing 390 bullets. He added that the African Union forces also inflicted on the insurgents a sizeable loss of personnel and neutralised their target which was 20km north east of the Ugandan contingent base of Ballidoogle.

“This operation was not only aimed at improving security of the Ballidoogle –Leego road and to further weaken the insurgents, but also to eliminate al-Shabaab pockets in the neighbourhood.”

The Uganda contingent Commander, Brig. Michael Ondoga, said: “We cannot afford to allow freedom of activity for the enemy in areas we have captured. Issues of road ambushes cannot be handled by road patrols alone but also by solving the problem from the source. Our operations are paying off.”

Meanwhile, the same forces also captured one insurgent earlier in the week at Baleweyn 115km North West of Mogadishu while in possession of several military ware including camouflage uniforms and ranger boots. One rocket propelled grenade bomb was also yesterday morning recovered in Gupta, a suburb in Mogadishu.